Pakistan must determine motive behind killing of reporter

New York, May 28, 2013--Pakistani authorities should identify the
motive behind the fatal shooting of a local crime reporter and bring the
perpetrators to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Two assailants shot Ahmed Ali Joiya, 25, in the Bahawalnagar
village market in Punjab province on May 24, according to local news
reports. Two street vendors were also injured in the attack.

Joiya had received death threats from Kooli Sasi, also known as
Maqbool, who police say is behind more than 150 different local crimes, news
reports said. The reporter had often covered crime and narcotics trafficking
for several local print publications, the reports said. His stories had helped
police, prompting regional police to award him a prize last year, according to
some news accounts, which did not elaborate on the nature of his assistance.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists President Pervaiz Shaukat
said Joiya had been working on exposing criminals and had been killed in the
line of duty, according to the International
Federation of Journalists. News reports said Joiya had been helping the
police in an investigation at the time of his murder, although the nature of
his help and the type of investigation were not specified.

Gulzar Ahmed Chaudhry, president of the Bahawalnagar Press Club and
the local correspondent of the English-language daily Dawn, disputed news
reports that said Joiya had been killed in connection with his work. Chaudhry
told the media support group Rural
Media Network Pakistan that Joiya had been killed in connection with a
domestic dispute with Maqbool, and said that the two men were cousins.

Police said they suspected Maqbool was responsible for the murder, according
to news reports. Muntazir Mehdi, a local police officer, told journalists that
an initial investigation showed Maqbool was in Sindh province and that a team
had been formed to arrest him.

For more data and analysis on Pakistan,
visit CPJ's Attacks on the Press.